Island



(No Model.)

R. NEWTON. FUEL FEEDER' FOR PURNAGBS.

No. 447,544. Patented Mar. 3, '18491` AN NN o sm .Z'NVINTUR WIFA/55551 v y M Z/XM/g Nr'rnn' STATES FATENT OFFICE. n

ROBERT NEWTON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

FUEL-FEEDER FOR EURNACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,544, dated March 3, 1891.

Y Application fled September 22, 1890. Serial No. 365,774. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT NEwToN, of the city of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fuel-Feeders for Furnaces; and I hereby de- Clare that the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention has reference to an improvenient in devices for feeding the fuel to furnaces; and it consists in the peculiar and novel construction of the vibrating feeder, as will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

The object of this invention is to so construct a device for supplying fuel to any kind of furnace that with the least exertion of force the fuel can be delivered from the hopper or other fuel-receptacle to the lire, and by which the fuel-supply opening may be closed while the opening into the fire-pot or furnace is open, the condition of the fire eX- ainined, the fire kindled, or the fuel evened through the Stoke-hole.

In the drawings the device is shown applied to a furnace. Figure 1 is a vertical view of a furnace-front provided with myirnproved fuel-feeder, showing the vibrating feeder-plate in the raised position. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the furnace-front, the

' fuel-hopper, and the vibrating feeder-plate in the vertical position in solid lines andthe two' opposite inclined positions in broken lines. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the center of Fig. l, showing the outlet from the hopper closed by the feeder-plate and the firing-hole open.

Similar numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, the num bers 6 indicate the front plates of a furnace; 7, the ash-pit or draft-opening through which the air for the combustion of the fuel enters the furnace.

8 is the fire-opening or Stoke-hole through which the fuel is supplied to the furnace; 9, the dead-plate. The grates extending beyond the dead-plate are not shown in the drawings, as they form no part of my present invention. Any of the many well-known forins of furnace-grates may be used.

10 is a vertically-sliding gate, which may be raised or lowered and secured in the desired position.

11 indicates the brick arch forming, usually, the roof over the front end of the fur? nace.

The numbers 12 indicate the bed-plate forming the fixed bed and the lower surface of the Stoke-hole 8. This bed-plate 12 may be made in one piece with the dead-plate 9, or the deadplate and the bed-plate may be made each separately. The numbers 13 indicate the two sides ofthe bed-plate 12 and form extensions of the two sides of the Stoke-hole 8. These sides 13 are provided with the vertical slots 14, in which the shaft 16 of the hinged vibrating feed-plate 15 is journaled.

5 is a. metal plate guided in the vertical slots 14 and resting on the rounded upper part of the hinged vibrating feed-plate 15. The shaft 16 of the feed-plate 15 is provided at one end with the arm 17, by which vibratory motion is imparted to the feed-plate 15, as is indicated in broken lines in Fig. 2. The hopper 18 forms a receptacle for the fuel.

19 isa locking-block secured to the under side of the bed-plate 12,into which the pin 2O is inserted to hold the arm 17 in the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 3.

The ,operation of my improved fuel-feeder is as follows: When the fire is to be started in the furnace, the lever 17 is depressed and locked in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, thus turning' the vibrating feed-plate'15 into the horizontal position, in which it forms the bottom to the hopper 1S and holds the fuel from falling on the bedplate 12. The stokehole 8 is thus open, and light-burning kindlingfuel may be as readily placed into the furnace as with the old furnace-door used in hand-firing. The hopper may at this time be filled with fuel. A small quantity of coal or other similar fuel may be thrown on the kindling and so the fire started, and when sufciently started the arm 17 is released and swung into the horizontal position shown in Fig. 2. The fuel from the hopper will now descend and rest on the bed-plate 12, as the feedplate has swung from the horizontal to the vertical position, as is shown in Fig. 2. By now depressing the arm 17 into the position shown in broken lines below the arm shown in solid lines in Fig. 2 the lower part of the ICO f ced-plate 15 will be moved toward the stokehole S into the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 2, and a portion of the fuel resting on the bed-plate 12 will be moved through the Stoke-hole S on the dead-plate 9, and by now swinging the arm 17 from the position indicated by the lower broken lines to the position as indicated in broken lines above the horizontal position of the arm shown in solid lines in Fig. 2 the fuel will f ollow the feed-plate by the mere force of gravity, and by each oscillation or vibration of the feed-plate the fuel will descend from the hopper and be pushed by the feed-plate over the bed-plate onto the dead-plate, and so into the furnace. To permit the feed-plate 15 to oscillate and maintain its contact with the bed-plate 12, the shaft-beari n gs 1G have to rise and fall in the vertical slots 14, and the plate 5, acting as a weighted follower, rises and falls with the shaft-bearin gs and the feed-plate. Thus by the weight of the plate 5 the vibrating feed-plate is always kept in contact with the bed-plate, making a tight joint. lf desired, the bed-plate may be made suiiiciently concave on its upper surface between the two positions of the vibrating plate shown in broken lines in Fig. 2, so that the shaft-bearings 16 of the vibrating plate 15 will not require to rise and fall without materially altering the nature of my invention, the essential features of which consist in the fixed bed-plate forming the bottom of the f ucl-reservoir on which the fuel is supported an d the oscllatin g or vibrating feed-plate pushing the fuel toward and through the Stoke-hole.

The arm l7 may be operated by hand or by power by any well-known crank orother mechanism by which the rotary motion of a shaft is changed to a reciprocating motion and connected with the arm 17.

The numbers 4- indicate two flanges surrounding the shaft 16 and bearing against the sides 13. It is evident that by raising the outer end of the arm 17 the feed-plate 15 may be swung outward. The Stoke-hole 8 may be thus reached, as well as the interior of the furnace, if there is no fuel in the hopper or the bottom of the hopper is closed above the Stoke-hole by other means than the vibrating feed-plate 1 5.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a device for feeding fuel into furnaces, the combination, with the stoke-hole and a fuel-reservoir, of a bed-plate forming the bottoni of the fuel-reservoir, and a hinged feed plate or door forming the side of the fuelreservoir opposite the Stoke-hole, said feedplate having capacity to vibrate and swing on its pivotal support, as described.

2. The combination, with the hopperlS and stolze-hole 8, of the fixed bed-plate 12, forming the bottom of the hopper and support of the fuel in the hopper, andthe feed-plate 15, pivotally supported at its upper end in vertical yielding bearings, the lower edge sweeping over the surface of the bed-plate, as described.

3. The combination, with the Stoke-hole of a furnace, the hopper forming the fuel-reservoir, and a bed-plate forming the bottom of the fuel-reservoir and support of the fuel in the hopper, of the pivoted feed-plate forming the part of the fuel-reservoir opposite the Stoke-hole, adapted to push the fuel into the Stoke-hole, form the temporary bottom of the fuel-reservoir, and a door opposite the stokehole, as described.

et. The combination, with the Stoke-hole of a furnace, the bed-plate 12, and the deadplate 9, of a fuel-reservoir secured in front of the Stoke-hole and over the bed-plate, forming an unobstructed passage for the coal from the hopper to the Stoke-hole, a feed-plate pivoted at or near its upper edge. the lower edge resting on the bed-plate, formingr one side of the fuel-reservoir, and a door giving access to the fuel-reservoir near its bottom and to the Stoke-hole, and mechanism, substantially as described, for vibrating the feed-plate, as described.

5. The combination, with the Stoke-hole of a furnace and a fuel-reservoir secured in front of the Stoke-hole, of the bed-plate 12, forming the bottom of the fuel-reservoir, the feed-plate 15, hinged at its upper end, the lower end sweeping over the surface of the bed-plate, and the arm 17, adapted to oscillate or vibrate the feed-plate to feed the fuel to the furnace and swing the feed-plate into the horizontal position inwardly, so as to expose the Stoke-hole, as described.

vG. The combination, with the stolze-hole of a furnace and a fuel-reservoir placed in front of and connected with the stolce-hole, of the bed-plate 12, forming the bottom of the fuelreservoir, the pivoted feed plate l5, journaled in the vertical slots 14, the followerplate 5, the arm 17, and pin 20, constructed to feed the fuel to the furnace and close thc bottom of the fuel-reservoir above the stokehole, as described.

ROBERT NEWTON. iVitnesses:

J. A. MILLER, J r., HENRY J. MILLER.

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